Smart eye contact devices or eye mountable devices that incorporate a processor and miniaturized technology offer unique opportunities for health monitoring and enhancement. Representative of the benefits of smart eye contact devices include the ability to diagnose and/or monitor disease states, provide drug delivery, employ reality augmentation, improve or adjust focus or accommodation and provide night vision.
Because a smart eye contact device or eye mountable device may include electronic devices such as an on-lens battery or rectifier, there is a potential hazard due to the wet environment in which the contact device is worn. More specifically, tears (e.g., basal tears) and/or water ingression at a two terminal device on a smart contact device offers the possibility of shorting of terminals and/or any metal traces connecting the terminals. There is also a risk of electrolysis and, because of the presence of salt (sodium chloride (NaCl)), the electrolysis reaction can mimic industrial processes for the production of chlorine and caustic soda (sodium hydroxide (NaOH)) production. The mixing of chlorine and sodium hydroxide in turn forms sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), the main ingredient of bleach. Thus, electrolysis at a two terminal electronic devices poses a potential risk of producing hazardous chemicals at a surface of the eye of a wearer.